Crayon Snapshots
by Forever in Your Heart
Summary: A look at love. Drabble collection. Naruto/Hinata Sasuke/Sakura Ino/Kiba Neji/Tenten Shikamaru/Temari Gaara/Matsuri Konohamaru/Moegi Suigetsu/Karin Shino/OC Kankuro/OC Chouji/OC
1. Zenzai and Cinnamon Rolls

"_That's it! THAT'S IT! Never again Naruto-kun! I'm never eating another bowl of ramen! Never! You can eat as much as you want but just know that you'll be eating alone because I've had ENOUGH!" _

Hinata knows she was overreacting. It's just that she's been married to Naruto for a month and all they've eaten is ramen. She's usually able to sneak something else in, a handful of vegetables or something equally innocuous. But every day, it's ramen. She knows its Naruto's favourite. She even taught herself how to cook homemade ramen when he proposed.

But enough is enough. Hinata's tired of only ramen, just the smell of it makes her queasy. And would it be so hard for them to have her favourite for once? She's complained to her friends and tried subtly dropping hints to her ramen obsessed husband but nothing's worked.

But Hinata misses him. She misses eating with him, spending time with him. Meals with Naruto were always something to look forward to. All the _zenzai_ and cinnamon rolls in the world aren't worth eating alone. She just wishes Naruto understood.

So when Hinata walks into their apartment and finds a bowl of _zenzai_ next to a plate of cinnamon rolls sitting on the table, she almost cries. And when she finds Naruto hiding in their bedroom looking like a sad puppy dog, she laughs, kisses him and insists he share her soup with her.

When she tells her friends the next day and thanks Sakura for pointing Naruto in the right direction and Sakura explains that she didn't have anything to do with it, Hinata rushes home and whips up a huge batch of homemade ramen. And a few cinnamon rolls.

That night, Naruto dines on specially made ramen and Hinata licks icing off cinnamon rolls and both decide that regardless of what they're eating a meal is best spent together.

Though Naruto will gladly admit that his new favourite food is most definitely Hinata's homemade ramen. Sorry, Ichirakus.


	2. Prizes

The town looks absolutely amazing. Festival lights and paper lanterns hang from every shop while cheery music fills the air. Delicious smells waft through the streets and Sakura is filled with excitement. Merry green eyes try and drink in everything. The decorations, the costumes, the performers. Konoha is alive and Sakura is mesmerized. She is dressed in her summer finest, as is Sasuke, whom she eagerly drags through the crowds filing the streets.

She stops at a stand selling pretty baubles and jewellery and admires a particularly lovely set of leaf shaped earrings. During her examination, Sasuke scowls and Ino comes dancing towards them. Sasuke's scowl deepens.

"Oh hello, Sasu-chan! And Sakura, those earrings would look gorgeous on you!" Sasuke's face darkens and Ino smiles brightly at the both of them.

"Really?" Sakura questions, holding the earrings up to her ear. Ino nods with conviction.

"Definitely. Oh and have you seen Hinata? Naruto won her the cutest little thing. I'm jealous; it's so adorable and romantic. I wish my boyfriend would be as sweet as that. I'll have to find him and make him win me something. Oh and Sasu? Make sure you treat Sakura to those earrings!" Sometime later, when Ino's run off to find Kiba and Sasuke's bought Sakura the earrings, Sakura takes a hold of Sasuke's hand and the two set off again. Continuing on their way, Sakura sees a booth with a game and prizes.

"Ino's right, it was romantic of Naruto to win Hinata a prize."

"Hn. It's not romantic, it's childish and silly." Sakura smiles and squeezes his arm.

"Win me a prize?"

"Rabbit or Cat?"

"Cat please."

"Hn."

In the end Sasuke wins her a stuffed rabbit and a stuffed cat. And she tells him she thinks it was very romantic of him. Even if he did look a little silly.


	3. Golden Days

"Hey." Kiba's voice is warm and inviting and Ino's cherry lips quirk into a smile. She senses him settle down beside her on the little grassy hill overlooking Konoha, feels calloused fingers playing absent mindedly with strands of her corn silk hair and finally she blinks open her azure eyes. She shifts her head slightly to watch him and feels her expression soften. He is gazing into the distance, expression thoughtful and she admires his jaw line. She has always found him handsome but it is moments like these that he takes her breath away.

Suddenly he grins and remarks with laughter in his voice, "I think I can see Naruto treating Hinata to yet _more_ ramen. If I was her, I'd probably be so sick of the stuff that just the thought of it would make me puke." Ino flutters her eyes and smiles.

"Well good thing you aren't Hinata then."

"Huh?" Kiba turns in her direction, adorably confused and she reaches up to place her hands on either side of his face.

"After all, if you were, then I wouldn't get to do this." She pulls him down to meet her and presses her lips to his. Just like every other one of his kisses, this one sends bolts of electricity jolting up her spine. She feels herself shiver and smiles into his lips as he places a hand behind her head, tangling it in her hair and uses it to lift her up. His other arm circles her waist, pulling her close and she drapes her arms over his shoulders. His fingers dance up her side and she feels goose bumps erupt like wildfire.

When the need to breathe overwhelms them, she pulls back, only just enough to separate their lips and presses her forehead against his. She inhales deeply, relishing the scent of _him_ and tries to memorize his every detail with her eyes, because golden summer days won't last forever but at times like these, she really wishes they would. His hand trails along her jaw and lifts her chin until their eyes meet and he grins and her heart melts. He pulls her into his lap, squeezes her tight and whispers in her ear, hot breath tickling her skin and sending chills zipping across her skin.

"Yamanaka Ino, you're absolutely amazing and I am so glad I fell in love with you." Just like when she tries to memorize his face, he is trying to ensure this moment doesn't fade. His tone is light but she knows he is trying to express emotions he is afraid he won't get another chance to and she tightens her grip on him.

"And I'm glad you did too, unless of course you plan to start feeding me ramen at every meal like _some_ boys we know...though you could stand to shower me with a few more expensive gifts like Sasuke does to Sakura..." Kiba snorts into her hair and she smiles against his neck.

"Well if Sasuke's so fabulous then why don't you run off to him? I'm sure he'd love a stunning girlfriend like you to, what was it? Oh yeah, _shower,_ with an endless supply of overpriced trinkets. You two would be the prettiest couple in Konoha." His voice is friendly and joking and she grins as she pulls back to look him in the eye. Arms around his neck, she quirks an eyebrow.

"Well, while Sasuke does excel at giving lovely presents, there's a reason I haven't swooped in and snatched him away from little Miss Forehead." He grins.

"Oh?" Ino nods.

"Yep. Because you see, Sasuke is nowhere near as attractive, passionate, funny or loyal as the boy I've currently got wrapped around my finger. And I hardly doubt he could be anywhere near as good a kisser." Kiba smirks triumphantly and lowers her onto the ground. He rests his elbows on either side of her and leans down to kiss her but she places a finger against his mouth.

"And who, pray tell, said that it was you?" She questions playfully, eyes dancing.

"Well it better be, or some guy's in for a serious beating." He growls. She laughs and wraps her arms around his neck.

"Well how lucky then." And then she pulls him down and kisses him like it's the end of the world. She doesn't know how long they stay there like that but one thing she does know is even though summer won't last forever, this, _they_ will.

Because Ino figures that she loves Kiba even more than Naruto loves ramen, and that's saying something.


	4. Blind Spot

Tenten dodges left and hurls three kunai with her left hand. She leaps, rolls through the air and tosses a dozen shuriken at her opponent. She lands without a sound and is already spinning away from his attack. She leaps again, flips over his head and strikes at his back. He moves easily out of her reach but his counterstrike hits empty air as she lands easily on a tree branch and launches several kunai attached with paper bombs at him. The explosion shakes the clearing but before the smoke has cleared she's already on the move, sending senbon and shuriken whizzing towards him. He deflects them all and she avoids each of them, pulling at almost invisible strings. Her weapons rise again and zoom towards him. He experiences only a moment of surprise before initiating his defence.

He receives nary a scratch but Tenten never expected him to. She pulls another string and a series of detonations rock the forest. While he busies himself with protecting himself from the blasts, she quickly readies herself for her final attack. The minute he drops his defence, she leaps and lands in front of him, close combat weapons in hand and launches a frontal assault. He easily bats aside her attacks and knocks her to her feet, smirking in triumph. While he towers over her, Tenten twitches her pinky finger. He does not notice, too content with victory. She scowls, pretends to be furious at her defeat until his eyes widen. A tiny needle, barely visible except for when it catches the light, buries itself in his back.

Tenten is already up on her feet, grinning.

"If this was a real fight that'd be coated in poison and you'd be almost dead right now. Oh wait, now you'd be dead." Neji frowns but she can see the smile in his eyes. He reaches behind and pulls out the offending needle and hands it back to her.

"In a real fight, the enemy wouldn't have as much knowledge of my blind spot. Very clever though, distracting me with the explosions, then attacking from in front to guarantee that my blind spot would be facing the needle." Tenten smiles and puts her hands on her hips.

"Well, I've been watching your back for so long that I've learned a few tricks. And you should be prepared for any outcome. That's the point of training right? And you know I know about your blind spot. You should be ready in case I try and use that knowledge."

"I assumed you wouldn't take advantage of it."

"I'm the enemy. We take advantage of everything." Neji favours her with a grin.

"I suppose you're right." She grins back.

"Of course I am." Neji then sets about gathering up her weapons for her and she smiles. How gentlemanly of him. When he's done, he leans in close and whispers in her ear.

"You're right, I should be more careful with my blind spot. I guess I'm lucky to have you around to watch it for me." Tenten smiles and whispers back.

"You bet. You're blind spot's safe with me."

"I know it is." And then Tenten, as the winner, claims her prize. Neji's kisses have always been her favourite part of wining.


	5. Surprise

**3:00 pm**

Moegi sighed as she watched the Hokage twirl his pretty wife in a circle and dip her into a passionate kiss. The dark haired beauty blushed pink but wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. Kissing done, the Hokage stood her back up and snaked an arm around her waist and began talking in an excited fashion gesturing with his other hand. His wife looked up at him with interest, a gentle smile playing at her lips.

Moegi sighed again and propped her elbow on the table and leaned her chin against her fist. The Uzumakis were the loveliest couple Moegi had ever seen. They were so totally in love. Moegi wished her love life was as magical as theirs.

With the Hokage now out of sight, Moegi turned her attention to the front entrance of the Hokage Tower. And waited.

**4:00 pm**

It had been an hour. An hour since the Hokage had left. Which meant an hour since his assistant should have also left. Except, she had been sitting in front of the entrance the whole time and Konohamaru had yet to leave.

Now, the sun was still shining in the sky and the air was still warm and Moegi could understand that maybe Konohamaru had some things to finish up. Heck, everyone knew the Hokage was no fan of paper work; maybe Konohamaru was sorting or filing.

Yes, it had only been an hour. She could certainly wait a little longer.

**6:00 pm**

Two hours ago, Moegi had been content to wait. But that was then and this was now. The sky was fading into heliotrope and gold, the fluffy clouds spotted with pink as the sun began to dip beneath the building tops. What had once been a balmy day was turning into a chilly evening and Moegi's foot was falling asleep. Moegi jiggled her foot and tapped her fingers on the tabletop and sighed loudly, not that the only occupants of the street, a frustrated and frazzled looking woman dragging a screaming toddler, seemed to hear.

She glared at the entrance. Where was he?

**7:00 pm**

She had been waiting four hours. _Four hours_. The sky had turned cerulean and the faintest wisps of ivory stars could be seen. A shadow of the moon appeared like a ghost in the distance. Every single employee had left._ Except_ Konohamaru.

It was supposed to be a surprise. She had just returned from a mission with Udon and had decided to surprise Konohamaru when he got off work. They weren't due back for a few days so she thought it would be fun to show up at his work without telling him she was back.

Well she was wrong. It wasn't very fun at all. She didn't know what he could be doing for all this time but she'd had enough. She was going in there and finding him, informing him that she was home and then marching back to her apartment. Simple as that.

She stood up from her table, her foot prickling and stomped over to the entrance. Technically, none of this was Konohamaru's fault. He hadn't known she was waiting, that was the point. But still, she was grumpy. She'd sat at that table for four hours and had strange men leer at her.

When she reached the door, she found it was locked. She cursed, kicked it and scowled. She turned, intent upon walking home and pretending this whole disaster had never taken place and saw a lithe figure slipping around from the back of the building. The figure darted into view and Moegi caught the briefest of looks. But there was no mistaking it.

Hanabi Hyuuga was suspiciously slinking away from a building that contained only Moegi's very late boyfriend.

**8:00 pm**

Finally, Moegi arrived home. Her head was swirling with all sorts of horrible thoughts. But mainly there was one major battle going on. The part of her brain that said Konohamaru had been fooling around with the Hyuuga snot while she'd been on a mission versus the part of her brain that said there was a perfectly innocent reason for Hanabi being there. Like maybe she was searching the office for gift ideas for Naruto. After all, he was her brother-in-law now.

She trudged up the stairs to her apartment, boring a whole in the steps in front of her. _Is this what he does while I'm away? No, no of course not. They were talking about what to get Naruto for his birthday. In six months. It's possible!_

She unlocked the door, feeling awful. Her live-in boyfriend was very possibly cheating on her. Not exactly the welcome home she'd been expecting. As the door swung open and she stepped forward, her downturned head collided with something solid. She let out a muffled yelp as arms clasped her shoulders and pulled her back from their chest.

"Moegi! Where've you been? I was about to go out looking for you! Udon told me you'd gotten back five and a half hours ago!" Moegi looked up into the face of her boyfriend Konohamaru. And then she looked past him into their apartment. There was a candlelight dinner on the table and a bouquet of flowers on one of the seats. She turned back to look at him open mouthed. He pulled her into the apartment and noticed her expression. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the ground.

"I've been planning this for awhile. I asked Udon to let me know when you got back so I could set up this surprise. I snuck here as soon as he said you were back, but you never showed up. Where've you been?" She couldn't believe it. She had wasted five hours of her life and he was here the whole time.

"I was waiting at the Hokage Tower. To surprise you." He stared at her and then burst out into laughter. He laughed, hard and grabbed at his stomach. She stood there, frozen and torn between crying and joining him in laughter. Instead, she examined the "surprise" he had set up for her.

"What's all this for?" She asked quietly. He stopped laughing and dropped his gaze.

"Uh, well...I-" As he dithered, she noticed the little black box sitting on the kitchen counter. She turned to him, wide eyed and cut off the rest of his blabbering explanation.

"Yes." His head snapped up and he stared at her, mouth hanging open. "Yes." She repeated and a goofy grin stretched across his face. He came forward and pulled her into a kiss. When they broke off she pushed him away slightly. He looked at her in confusion.

"I'm starving. Feed me." He laughed and reached for her again.

"No seriously. I'm starved. I spent _five hours_ waiting for you. Feed me now."


	6. Home is Where the Heart is

The sky is a blanket of darkness, white stars like flecks of snow shimmering against the endless black canvas and the magnolia curve of the moon, like white smoke in the sky, bathes the world below in vanilla light. The air is still and quiet, no sound or breeze whispers in the grass and the wild flowers so used to dancing in the summer wind are finally still. Moonlight glances off every surface and Naruto can see the stars reflected in Hinata's eyes.

It's late. Very, very late and the entire village is safe and warm, snug in their beds. But Naruto is awake and tired and hurt and breathing heavily, each breath hanging in the still night. He is dirty and bloody, aching and miserable. And she is standing before him, alabaster skin shining in the starlight, eyes pulling him in deeper. A thousand terrible memories fade away, a million aching pains melt into non-existence and all he is is her. Her fingers are warm and soft on his face, her lips like rose petals as they kiss away the nightmares. He falls into her embrace, focuses on the soothing tone of her voice and he is happy.

He'd dragged himself back for miles and miles, stained in so many different peoples blood, horror playing beneath his eyelids. But she is like a balm that heals his tortured mind. Her very presence is enough to pull him up from the dark place it had begun to settle into. He's smiling as he pulls her close, her body folding perfectly into his. She doesn't complain about the grime coating his chest as she nestles against it and he finally feels like he can breathe again.

However long later, she pulls at his hand and gently leads him into their home, the scent of freshly baked ramen making his mouth water. When he sits at the kitchen table, warm, delicious noodles sliding down his throat and Hinata's warm, delicate fingers massaging sore, tense muscles, he feels home again. He feels safe and loved and hopes that moments like these never end.

But in the morning he'll wake up and realise this is all a dream because Hinata's gone. He'll go about his day and live because she would have wanted him too, because even though Hinata's gone, his life isn't over. He lives for her and misses her and knows he'll never stop, knows he'll never love someone like he loves her. But he still has friends, _family_, and he's still Hokage and there's still so much to do. The days belong to him and the life he's still living without her and the empty house he can't call home.

But nights belong to Hinata, because home is where the heart is and his heart's always been with her.


	7. Earn Their Love

"I love you." It's a whisper, quiet as the wind, barely heard.

"No you don't." This is also quiet but hard, sharp.

"I love you." Again quiet, certain, _unflinching_.

"Stop lying." Angry, teetering on the brink like sliding across a razor blade.

"I love you." Warm, sure, confident, _comforting_.

"Why?" Quiet, broken, desperate, _lonely_.

"Because you're you." Warm, friendly, accepting, soothing, _loving_.

Because maybe that's all you've ever needed to hear. That someone loves you, _for you_. No need to earn it, no need to prove yourself. Just be you. So maybe that's why it's so hard to believe. Because no one ever has. Because you've always had to show them your worth it. It's a familiar pattern but today its different, today she loves you for simply being you. Because your smile saved her. Because she's _seen_ you before anyone else. Because while the rest of the world was waiting for a reason she's always had one, you. _You_ are all the reason she's ever needed. And maybe that's why you're angry, not at her but at the world because why, _why_, couldn't anybody else just love you, why did you have to show them all that you were worth loving? Why couldn't they just love you? But the anger doesn't last because it never does and instead you're simply happy that at least, someone has always loved you, and always will.

And you'll always love Hinata too.

**A.N. So I'm full of NaruHina love right now so excuse the fact that these last few are all NH fluff. But I've always loved how Hinata's always loved Naruto while he pretty much had to earn everyone else's. So I thought I'd write about it. And first time in second person so reviews are lovely!**


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